Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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101. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide an update on the progress made regarding the funding issues at SOLAS and ETB apprenticeship training programmes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37556/25]

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I ask for an update on the progress made on the funding issue at SOLAS and the ETBs and the impact this is having on apprenticeships, the community sector and adult education within further education. Will the Minister provide some detail? We have all heard of a hole in the budget of between €40 million and €50 million but some clarity on that would be appreciated.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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In fairness, the Deputy was one of the first to raise this matter in the House a few weeks ago. He and Deputy Cullinane raised it in Topical Issues a couple of weeks back. As he is aware from that engagement, my Department and I were informed that, following engagements between SOLAS and ETBs on budgets, a funding pressure was identified for the 2025 apprenticeship budget. As I said a few questions back, that relates to allowances where apprentices are in the system longer than was anticipated because of backlogs that arose. They then became eligible for higher rates of payment which placed a strain on the funding of SOLAS and the ETBs. That is how it came about. SOLAS is the State agency tasked with the further education training sector and a key part of its remit is managing budgets and allocating funding to the ETBs to deliver those programmes.

Since the Deputy raised it last, I have engaged with SOLAS in person and in writing and I will meet its board this Thursday along with the Minister of State, Deputy Harkin. We are both going out to visit its board and will bring certain messages which I will not go into now but the Deputy can be sure this item will be on the agenda. I have written to the chair of the board, instructing him and SOLAS that no scheduled apprenticeship classes are to be cancelled. As we heard from Deputy O'Sullivan, it would be unacceptable for a backlog to be recreated. We need the apprenticeship system to work. We need employees to come through that training. A skilled labour force is essential.

SOLAS, with the full support of my officials, is working with the ETBs to identify solutions and that work is going well. We have identified moneys that can be allocated to that. I am engaging with the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation on additional supports. We will move might and main to make sure this gets through the system, the backlog is cleared and this does not go into another year. I do not think that would be acceptable to anybody.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Can we get a figure for how big a hole we are talking about? I have heard it is between €40 million and €50 million and I have heard in relation to Louth and Meath ETB that it is between €8 million and €11 million-plus. It is necessary that the Minister engage with SOLAS. Like Deputy O'Sullivan, I think at some point we will need to know how this came about. The Minister only discussed this a month ago. Many of us heard this only in the recent past. It is a question of how this was missed and of ensuring protocols exist such that a situation like this cannot arise. It is a necessity that the Minister have that conversation with the Minister for public expenditure and secure the funding. Our fear is that, while we might not have cancelled apprenticeships, we are having postponements and a slow-up in the system, and that is not acceptable.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I completely agree it is not acceptable. This is why I have taken strong, proactive steps to address it since it came to my attention. As well as directing SOLAS that no courses should be cancelled, I directed it to engage with ETBs to set out the programme of phase 2 classes through to the end of the year and to work out funding implications across the board to December. What does the revised schedule of classes look like? It means no classes will be cancelled but some may start later in the year than previously planned. That will be managed. My message to SOLAS and the ETBs is to manage it proactively and minimise the impact on apprentices. Instructors will be working. They have many other tasks to perform as part of their curriculum development. There are different challenges. Some ETBs are impacted differently than others, and some trades are impacted differently than others. The plan SOLAS is working on takes account of those variances. The response I received from SOLAS is that, once it is managed practically, it will not materially impact progression to the following year, which is very important.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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It would be hard to say I am still not apprehensive about this. We will need some detail on how these postponements will happen. I agree with the Minister that pressure has to be put on in relation to the fact the apprenticeships must not be cancelled. We need to find the money and make sure everything is not held up. I agree with the work being done on the funding implications through to December. When does the Minister expect to have that? If we could at some point, if not today, get the overall figure and the breakdown for individual ETBs, that would be useful. Will this have an impact? The adult educators will be out here tomorrow and they are talking about tutors who have been told they have less work or will not have work across ten ETBs. We know the issues with LTIs so we are very worried across the further education piece. Clarity needs to be brought, alongside the money. We must find out how this happened and ensure it does not happen again.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy has engaged in good faith throughout on this matter. I hear his queries and share them. It is important a solution be found, including a funding solution, in the coming weeks. The cut-off for classes starting in December is September. There is a lead-time for apprentices to be called up and September is the deadline for December classes. We do not have time on our side; however, I am confident. Significant progress has been made in the few weeks since this issue emerged. We are engaging on sustainable funding options to get SOLAS and the ETBs to the end of year. Normally, the Supplementary Estimate takes place in November but we may need to bring that forward to bridge this gap. I am quite confident the matter is receiving significant ministerial attention from me and the Minister of State. We are aware of the issues and keen to progress them. I am engaging across government to ensure that happens in time for the next round.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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What about the adult education and community piece?

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I do not know if that is connected and it probably would not be wise or fair to start putting on the record things I am not 100% certain on.